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After breaking ranks with the coalition supporting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Golkar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) on Tuesday heaped praise on him for saying he wanted to turn the Sidoarjo mudflow area into a geological tourism spot.

Golkar faction chairman Priyo Budi Santoso called it “a dream of many people that was communicated by the president.”

And PKS faction chairman Mustafa Kamal considered it “a move to change a disaster into a blessing.”

Priyo said that if the idea were realized, it would set “a world-class example on how Indonesia develops a beautiful tourism area from something scary.”

Yudhoyono aired his support for the plan that was proposed by the head of the Sidoarjo Mudflow Management Agency (BPLS) during a brief visit to the mudflow area on Monday.

Mustafa called on people to see the positive side of Yudhoyono’s proposal, saying it “may improve people’s social awareness.”

But Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a political researcher with the Indonesian Survey Institute, said both parties’ statements seemed part of efforts to maintain their positions as coalition members.

“Those coalition partners that have been fighting Yudhoyono are now trying to avoid the possibility of their ministers being reshuffled,” he said.

“Their statements are aimed at cooling down and softening the heart of the Democratic Party and Yudhoyono.”

Meanwhile, BPLS deputy chairman Sofyan Hadi Djojopranoto said the agency had yet to examine the feasibility of the proposal as it needed thorough calculations to ensure the safety of such a plan.

The mudflow in East Java, which left more than 40,000 people displaced, began spewing mud near a gas well being drilled by a company affiliated to a business group owned by Aburizal Bakrie, who now chairs Golkar.